5 replies to this topic

[Debaser]

As we get older we need fewer and fewer calories. This is one of the reasons that people tend to get fatter with age. It would be great to be able to eat like you're in your twenties for your whole life.

 

Does anyone know why this happens and is there anything we can do to prevent it? Do we stay the same size but our bodies begin to be more efficient? Or is it a loss of muscle mass requiring fewer calories to maintain? Or lowering of hormones meaning we're prone to putting on fat? Or shrinking brains requiring less energy?

 

 

Edited by Debaser, 18 April 2014 - 07:32 PM.

[Gerrans]

I do not know why this happens. But my guess is that it is to do with taking less exercise. I have noticed that when men stop working, or take on less physical jobs, they tend to put on weight. In my opinion, people go on eating the amount of food they were used to, and so they gain weight.

[misterE]

With aging comes a loss of subcutaneous-fat and an increase in ectopic-fat (or visceral-fat), which I'm thinking is due to excessive lipolysis; caused by insulin-resistant adipose-tissue. The loss of the subcutaneous-fat leads to leptin defiency and a drop in reproductive hormones. Burning fatty acids as fuel lowers the metabolism; since fat is a reserve-fuel, the body tries to spare fat-burning at all costs. Depletion of subcutaneous-fat during aging or uncontrolled diabetes lowers leptin which has major effects on energy metabolism and energy expenditure.

 

 

It would seem that spiking your insulin by eating insulinogenic-foods would inhibit lipolysis and help keep fat in subcutaneous stores. Insulin also is needed for the synthesis of leptin as well.

Edited by misterE, 20 April 2014 - 06:17 PM.

[platypus]

Much of the decline in metabolism is due to loss of muscle-mass. This can be counteracted with weight-training, of course. 

[misterE]

Much of the decline in metabolism is due to loss of muscle-mass. This can be counteracted with weight-training, of course. 

 

 

Weight training actually breaks down muscle even faster thou. It is insulin that actually builds muscle. It does so by storing amino-acids into the muscle and inhibiting the breakdown of muscle-mass (proteolysis).

 

As a person ages, they become less sensitive to insulin, when this happens they lose muscle-mass and they lose their body-fat stores, leading to decreased leptin. Both of these situations decreases the basal-metabolic-rate (BMR).

Edited by misterE, 21 April 2014 - 01:12 AM.

[Thorsten3]

Much of the decline in metabolism is due to loss of muscle-mass. This can be counteracted with weight-training, of course. 

 

Surely, eating to keep your metabolic rate high in the first place would prevent this issue. The problem is that the vast majority of people have no idea how to eat correctly. And most simply do not care. Their diets are full of PUFA, low protein and processed junk. Their whole mentality is based around eating less. Their muscles dissapear, and some will deteriorate and blow up like balloons as their bodies go into a state of crisis, running on stress hormones. So what do they do as they gain weight? They eat less. Causing more stress, and increasing the ability of their body to cling on to fat at whatever cost. Their body is on the decline, and as they get older, it's only going to get worse (especially considering they don't have a clue how they got themselves into the situation, or how to get themselves out of it).

 

OP, people don't just 'eat less' as they get older. An increased metabolism actually increases appetite, considerably. It's something I've witnessed with myself over the past 6 months. The more my metabolism increases, the hungrier I get. My body needs feeding and it craves nutrients. Calories + nutrients = less stress on the body. Which then breeds an environment in the body for favourable things to happen (an increased anabolic state, for one).

 

People will get less hungry as they get older as their metabolism drops. But one affects the other. If you let your metabolism drop in the first place, you're hardly giving yourself a chance. It's almost as if you are handing your body the keys to the ageing process. Defeat.

 

I would consider weight/resistance training to be a healthy form of exercise, if done correctly. Especially if you compare it to long distance running (there's a reason it is painful to your body. It's bad for you).

Edited by Thorsten2, 21 April 2014 - 10:19 PM.